The Surprise that Wasn't
by Alaena F. Dragonstar
Summary: When their friends said they wanted to plan a surprise party, Shinichi was sure they'd lost their minds. Not that there was anything wrong with wanting to plan surprise parties. It was just the guest of honor that was the problem. :KaiShin:


**A.N**: Just a little something that popped into my head.

Disclaimer: Don't own DCMK

Genre: Humor/Romance

Pairing: KaiShin [KaitoxShinichi]

Summary: When their friends said they wanted to plan a surprise party, Shinichi was sure they'd lost their minds. Not that there was anything wrong with wanting to plan surprise parties. It was just the guest of honor that was the problem.

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**The Surprise that Wasn't**

"Let me get this straight. You want to throw a surprise party." Shinichi couldn't keep the incredulity out of his voice.

Aoko didn't seem to notice as she nodded. "That's right."

"For Kaito."

"Yeah."

"As in _Kuroba Kaito_, the king of tricksters."

The inspector's daughter was starting to give him a funny look. "Well, he's the only Kaito I know. Is something wrong?"

"It'll never work," Shinichi explained, wondering how this could possibly not have occurred to the girl. Hadn't she known Kaito for, what, over a decade by now? Surely she'd realized this already. And even if she hadn't, he found it difficult to believe that neither Hattori nor Hakuba had spotted the rather large flaw in this plan. His gaze slid over to the other end of the table where his two fellow detectives were bickering over cups of tea. They had grabbed him right outside the police station when he'd been leaving and dragged him to this restaurant where Aoko, Ran, and Kazuha had been waiting. Considering their lack of attention while Aoko had been explaining their plans to him, they should already be in on it. Had they somehow missed the "surprise" part of said plans? Or maybe they'd been so distracted by their usual irritation with each other to think clearly?

"But we've already got just about everything planned," Kazuha interjected. "We knew Kuroba-kun would notice if we did that here, so we got all the plans drawn up and materials gathered in Osaka last weekend while we were visiting home."

Oh. Well, that must mean they had been plotting this for a while. That was why Kazuha had been going on and on about the new shopping center that had opened in Osaka lately. It made it look natural that Aoko and Ran asked if they could tag along when she and Heiji had decided to go back home for a weekend. It would also explain why Hakuba had gotten so many phone calls during the case they'd worked on together that time.

"And Hakuba-kun helped us figure out when to mail out the invitations so everyone gets them today," Ran added. "Since Kaito-kun took a day off classes to go to that conference today, that means no one can leak the news."

"I take it that's also why you lot waited until today to tell me."

Hattori took a brief break from his latest verbal sparring match with Hakuba to snicker. "Yeah, well, we didn't think you'd be able to keep the secret, seeing as you live together and all."

"Well, that and we did not have the opportunity until today," the blonde added, taking a sip of his tea. "Seeing as he spends half his free time stalking you. Today was the first day we could be sure he wouldn't be watching."

"He _what_?" Shinichi spluttered.

"What, didn't you know?"

"_No_." Obviously. He wouldn't be asking if he did now would he? "And how do _you_ know anyway?"

Hattori smirked. "The fact that he knows things like what you ate in the five minute break you took between those two cases we were at last Monday is kind of a giveaway, especially considering I'm not even sure _you_ knew what you were eating."

Not entirely sure how he should take this piece of information, Shinichi decided to focus on more important—and less creepy—matters. "So what was it that you guys wanted me to do? I presume that's why I'm here."

"Well, you see, Sonoko's taking care of the venue," Aoko began, sitting forward in her seat with the air of someone settling down to business. "But we need someone to get Kaito to go there at the right time. He's bound to realize something's up if it's one of us, so we were hoping…"

X

"Shin-chan, rise and shine! It's time to go!"

The lump under the covers let out a groan of protest and burrowed further into the fluffy mounds. Undeterred, Kaito—who had already brushed his teeth and changed for a day out—expertly extracted the still protesting detective from their bed. Bleary blue eyes cracked open to stare balefully at the window where the sky was still a predawn gray.

"Kai, the sun's not even up yet!" he complained, although it came out as a disgruntled, incoherent string of mumbled syllables.

Smiling fondly at the rather adorable pout his detective probably didn't realize he was wearing, Kaito proceeded to half steer half carry him out the door. "Don't worry, I'll buy you coffee on the way."

By the time he was awake enough to actually take in what was happening, Shinichi found himself on a bus out of the city, dressed in clothes he didn't remember putting on. And still, the sky was dark.

"Where are we going?" he asked, glancing up at Kaito.

The magician only wagged a finger at him. "You aren't allowed to ask me any questions today! So you'll just have to wait and see."

"But aren't we meeting your mother for lunch?"

"Yep."

Shinichi waited, but it seemed that was the end of it. Well, no point fretting about it. Covering a yawn, he leaned his head against Kaito's shoulder and closed his eyes. Kaito never did anything without plans and backup plans and backup plans for his backup plans, so it was unlikely they would miss their meeting with Chikage unless something particularly disastrous happened—like the sky falling. In the meantime, if this was how Kaito wanted to start today, Shinichi wasn't going to argue.

Almost an hour later, the two of them sat together on the edge of a cliff overlooking the lush, green forest that flowed down the mountainside in rippling waves of emerald. It was a bit of a precarious position, Shinichi thought, but the arm wrapped securely around his waist allayed any fears he might have had of falling. He knew Kaito would never let him fall (or at least that the magician would catch him if he did). So they watched in comfortable silence as the sun finally peeked over the horizon, spreading soft wings of pink and gold across the vast expanse of the sky.

"Kaito?"

"Yes Shin-chan?"

"Happy birthday."

X

They had finished lunch and were chatting with Kaito's mother over tea when Shinichi's phone rang. The conversation halted as the detective hurried to pick it up.

"Hello?" he said into the phone, then listened, nodding to whatever was being said. Eventually, he hung up with only a brief, "I'll head over now."

"Is it another case?" Kaito inquired.

"It was Hattori. He says they need me at the that hotel the Suzukis recently refurbished."

"Oh, I've been there."

Shinichi blinked. "You have?"

"I keep an eye on anything that Jirokichi guy might have a hand in. You know, just in case he throws out another one of his challenges. They did a pretty good job remodeling it."

"Oh, I see. Well, I, um…" He trailed off, glancing towards Chikage for help.

The woman hid a smile behind her cup. "Why don't you go with him then, Kaito? I'm sure your familiarity with the area would be helpful."

"I was planning on it anyway." Bounding to his feet, he offered Shinichi his hand with an accompanying bow. "Shall we be on our way then, my dear Tantei-kun? It seems the rest of our crime-solving divisions still can't do a thing without you."

Shinichi rolled his eyes but let Kaito pull him to his feet. "They probably just want a second opinion on something."

X

"He said it was in the ballroom." Picking up a map of the hotel from the front desk, Shinichi flipped it open. "Let's see…"

"I think it was this way," Kaito interjected, looping an arm over his smaller companion's shoulders and steering him towards the right. "If I remember correctly, the ballroom was just around the corner here and down the hall."

A few minutes later found the two approaching a set of rather elaborate double doors. Shinichi paused to check the hotel map just to be sure they had the right place. It was eerily quiet (which Shinichi thought was a bit careless of the others. If he'd really been called to a case, there should have been at least some murmur of conversation as Hattori and whoever else was present worked to unravel the mystery).

The ballroom doors opened with a faint creak and the two stepped inside.

At that point, several things happened simultaneously.

The myriad of people who'd been lying in wait in hiding places all around the room leapt up in classic surprise party style. At the same time, all the balloons that had been incorporated into the room's décor exploded. The lights blazed to life several times brighter than they should have been. Sparks, smoke, confetti, and more sprayed through the air accompanied by loud bangs. The cries of "surprise" morphed into shrieks and shouts of confusion. Some people ran, some dove back for their hiding places, others stood frozen until the runners bowled them over. In seconds the entire ballroom had been swamped by utter mayhem.

And as all the guests ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, Kaito stood in the midst of all the chaos and laughed until he gave himself cramps.

X

"Don't you think that was just a little bit extreme?" Shinichi asked later when things had finally settled down. The party had swung into action relatively smoothly considering its—_unusual_ beginning, and now the murmurs of good cheer and music filled the ballroom with a warm, energetic atmosphere.

Kaito forked a large chunk of cake into his mouth and grinned. "Of course not, it's _my_ birthday. No way I'm going to be outdone on my own birthday! Or any other day, but that's a different matter."

So, in the end, it was the surprise party planners who were surprised. Shinichi shook his head, though he wasn't quite able to suppress a smile. Go figure. Not, Shinichi thought wryly, that the whole thing hadn't gone pretty much exactly how he'd expected it to. It had. Though it did leave him wondering whose plans his own part in the day had really been a part of. That and he was pretty curious when Kaito had found the time to mess with the party decorations. They'd been together the entire day since before dawn after all. Of course, their friends were a bit miffed, but Kaito was happy, and it was his party, so they'd eventually given up on being annoyed and eased back into the spirit of the occasion. Games had been played and well wishes given. There had even been a singing contest which Shinichi flatly refused to partake in (not that anyone was particularly eager to make him. Most of their friends and fellow students had learned by now that he couldn't hold a tune to save his life, and none of them wanted to subject their own ears to another demonstration of his vocal ineptitude). Now the floor had been cleared and the music turned up so that people could dance. Others had gravitated back to the refreshments and the freshly cut cake. The magician himself was already well into his fifth serving despite Shinichi's reminders that the detective had bought another cake that was waiting for the two of them at home.

Polishing off the last of his cake with a satisfied grin, Kaito set his plate down. "I noticed the police didn't actually call you today."

Shinichi looked down into his coffee cup, a faint hint of pink tingeing his cheeks. "I told them I'd be busy and that they should call Hattori or Hakuba-san if there was an emergency. I…wanted to make sure we could spend the whole day together…"

There was a long silence. Confused, Shinichi looked up only to find that Kaito was no longer seated across from him. His confusion was short lived, however, as he was lifted from his seat and spun around. A calloused hand caught one of his and his coffee cup disappeared. Then he was being whirled into the dance without a pause. Despite the abruptness, Kaito had timed his motions perfectly, and they merged into the activity on the dance floor without so much as a faltering step.

Regaining his composure, Shinichi smiled, letting himself relax as Kaito led them on a merry waltz through the throng.

To some people, birthdays were about presents. To others it was about getting that significant year older (the degree of happiness about this varying with the age in question). Shinichi himself had never put much store in birthdays. He never felt any different before and after them, and he didn't really care if he got presents or not (if anything, he was inclined to believe that most people around him—himself included—probably had more things than they needed, most of which were rarely ever used). When he'd been temporarily shrunk back into a child, birthdays had become painful reminders of just how much time he was losing.

These days, however, he felt he was starting to understand why birthdays were so important to people. It wasn't just that it was almost like your own, personal holiday. Birthdays were celebrations of life—a time when you sat back and really appreciated the fact that someone had been born. The life of someone dear without whom your life would have been a completely different story.

Or at least that was how Kaito had put it, and Shinichi had thought it over as he did with everything and come to the conclusion that the magician was right.

For them, birthdays were about being there with the people who mattered. After all, what could be more precious than those shared moments of joy and the memories that could only be made with the people you loved?

Watching the two from a different table on the sidelines, Aoko sighed, running a hand through her already messy hair. "Well, I suppose we can at least count this as a sort of success, right?"

"Depends on what you're calling success," Hattori muttered from his seat a few chairs down. His words emerged sounding rather muffled due to the fact that he had his face down on the tabletop. "Man I'm tired. Parties are _not_ supposed to be this exhausting."

"Here." Kazuha nudged him with a cup of soda. The ice cubes clacked against each other as the liquid fizzed away gently.

Heaving another sigh, the Osakan detective peeled his face off the table and accepted the drink. "Thanks, Kazuha."

"I, for one, am never doing this again," Hakuba muttered.

Hattori snickered. The blonde now had hair striped orange, green, and purple. His clothes, too, looked like a kindergarten art project. So nothing had gone as planned, at least he'd gotten a good laugh out of it.

Back on the dance floor, Shinichi started and let out an undignified squeak. "Kaito! What are you doing?!"

"Why, I'm unwrapping my favorite present~."

Shinichi blushed and bonked him lightly on the head. "Wait until we get home."

**Owari**

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**A.N**: I meant to actually finish this for Kaito's birthday, but I've just been too busy. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed! ^_^


End file.
